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Topic: Another 1st Mu(e)nster post? (Read 4304 times)

So I made a Muenster on the same day JeffHamm did. Total coincidence. He encouraged me to post my make and forthcoming procedures. I'm quite excited to see how these Mu(e)nsters all turn out, John's included. I'm at a great disadvantage with my P-H milk, but have high hopes.

Sorry Jim . From now on no more cheesy references. I hope a cheese for you for your 1st Mu(e)nster will help us be forgiven? It will be interesting to compare the different recipes as time progresses. I plan to do the same wash schedule that you're using and will start tomorrow.

Update. Been washing the cheese, colour is starting to form. This picture is a few days old, but today it had a much nicer tone to it. I am having a problem with my cheese cave though, it smells like very nasty mold and is imparting that quality on this cheese. When the time comes I will have to see if it affected the flavour of the cheese or just the rind.

Another issue is these little brown patches that pop up out of no where. They have no texture and just look like a stain. I've been scraping them off and washing over them. I've had three so far.

My third issue is that the cheese may have retained too much whey. In the early drying/washing stages, the cheese had a very sour smell to it. Not sure if this is intended for Muenster, but it was very reminiscent of my Limburger make.

Hmmm, our make protocols are pretty similar. The only difference seems to be that I stirred and you cooked the curds to expel whey. My stirring was an addition to what the book says, mostly based upon my cam/brie makes, where just cut and sit curds have generally retained too much whey.

Different strains of b.linens can develop at different speeds and show different colours. You can add a pinch of b.linens to your brine that you wash with. I've put a bit in mine.

You might want to give your cave a wipe down with some warm water and soap, then vinegar and water too. See if you can remove the odd smell. Are you using ripening boxes? Do they smell too? Give them a good clean, including boiling water, etc.

I'm sure it will come right eventually and turn to gold. Like some recent sporting competitions.

- Jeff

Logged

The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

I do put Linens in my brine, I learned to the hard way. I think a lot of the problem stems from the cave itself. Humidity can't be maintained well and the temp fluctuates quite a bit. I was thinking of trying to clean it with borax soon. I tried cleaning it once before, but not no avail. I don't know where the smell comes from. There is nothing visible on any surfaces of the cave, not even excess moisture. it's like it has become part of the unit...

In a day or two I'll post another picture, should be looking a lot more colourful by then. Again, the last picture was taken a few days ago.

Looking good Jim. Your recipe says you drained your curds in a colander then transferred to a mold without cloth. I drained (and pressed) mine under the whey so that may explain why my cheese has more moisture retained and more of a wet, stickier surface?

Yeah John, yours looked a lot goopier than mine in your make pictures. I aimed for more whey expulsion and I wish I had put a cloth in the mould though, it would have wicked some of the whey. I also put a decent schmear on at first to seal up the cracks and inclusions that you can see in the first pick.

Though I must confess, when it was draining in the mould, I put a cutting board on top for pressure... my cheese is actually fairly firm. Never having eaten a Munster, I'm not actually sure what it should be like.

Yeah John, yours looked a lot goopier than mine in your make pictures.

Goopier for sure because my Miracale Whip jar keeled over and I had resuscitate it ! It's turned into a pretty good experiment for several reasons so sometimes you learn more from the rough road than the smooth.

By the way, Jim, from the time I first saw your avatar I've been compelled to fight the urge to do a Hopi dance with Popsicle sticks. Is there a cheese connection there? Whether it is or not it is very cool !

Here's the latest picture. Colour is starting to come together, but I have a lot of "undesireables" growing on the surface and in the crevices. The cheese seems quite firm so far, but we shall see in time. My Port Salut's typically soften quite a bit as they ripen.

John, there is no deeper meaning to the picture, but thanks for thinking such a philosopher of me I found it years ago and have always loved it.